Although we are passionate advocates for women in leadership roles here at AIM we still realise there is no silver bullet for resolving the issues that prevent women from achieving equal footing in boardroom and senior executive roles. Many companies have introduced quota systems for their boards which, while being commendable initiatives, don’t get to the root of the problem.

Diverse perspectives have been proven to provide superior solutions to organisational challenges which is why there is potential benefit to prescribed gender diversity in an organisation.

Most people would prefer for senior roles to be rewarded on merit, the female senior executives and board members at AIM included, however the fact remains that there are barriers seen and unseen preventing women from doing so. While discriminating against an individual based on their gender, race or religion is considered repugnant to nearly everyone in tod

We all remember the excitement of turning in that last assignment, walking out of the exam room with half an hour to spare, knowing you just absolutely crushed every question. The results came in while you enjoyed a summer holiday and discussed with your friends and family where you’d like to be in your career in five years.

So now it’s five years later and that corner office is evading you despite the amazing marks you got for that last assignment and exam. You divide your time between watching your colleagues earn promotions and endlessly scrolling through job advertisements in a higher salary bracket. Is it something you’re doing wrong? What have you missed?

Maybe you aren’t completely embroiled in an existential career crisis but simply looking for the key to open that next door. Postgraduate education has always been there but is it for you? It was a worthwhile decision for your friend the archaeologist as she embarked on her career as an academic but you’ve always seen

While it may be increasingly difficult for organisations to achieve competitive advantage through cost, service and quality, the good news is that sustainable advantage is also available through innovation. While no single innovation lasts forever, what can last for a long time is the advantage created by fostering what the Australian Institute of Management has called “superior systematic innovation capability.”

To develop this capability, innovation needs to be the key focus of the organisation, as is the case in leading innovation-oriented organisations such as Apple, Google and Samsung. Developing an innovation orientation allows your firm to win the “war for talent” because truly innovative minds will be attracted to organisations which are ahead of the pack in their ability to innovate for the future.

AIM Research determined across a range of metrics exactly what makes a company an “innovation leader” or an “innovation lagger” and then investigated how these opposite ends of the innov

Even before the Internet, social networking existed. In a nutshell, social networking is when a person uses already existing contacts to meet new people creating potential social or business links. Such links, in turn, will help expand future connections. Small and local businesses may already do this offline simply by attending community events or participating in trade shows, etc.

Anything that gets your company name out there, or connects you to helpful resources, is considered networking. Technology has brought this essential activity online, giving businesses the opportunity to further develop network relationships in new ways.

Social networking can be compared to the concept of the six degrees of separation, based on the idea that any two people can be connected through a chain of five or less intermediaries. Through social media sites, people join, and then invite their established contacts to do the same. Those contacts will likewis

To get a job, keep a job and advance through the ranks, we learn, train and hone particular skills required for a role. But there are skills absolutely crucial to getting ahead at which are not covered in lectures or learned on the job.

An accountant must be able to crunch the numbers and have certification to prove their training. However, it will be the accountant who interacts most positively with colleagues that receives a promotion not the accountant who got offside with his colleagues. And there is a very good reason for this.

Interpersonal and relationship skills are highly valuable to employers – as are teamwork skills, problem solving, emotional intelligence, leadership and values. These are all “soft skills” – personal attributes that are critical for a successful, lasting career.

In certain vocations, the rift that develops between teams, employees and managers because of a lack of soft skills is more evident. Take the popular British sitcom The IT Crow

Many people think of assertiveness as a form brash confidence that is used liberally to win arguments and get results that are beneficial to the individual but not the group. However, assertiveness is a very necessary trait to ensure that everyone in a group gets the results they need. Assertiveness is a way of thinking, behaving and reacting to others that allows you to stand up for your rights while also respecting the rights of those around you. The needs and feelings of others are quite often different to our own, and how we communicate our own wants and needs with consideration to the needs and feelings of others is the internal balancing act that takes place when we are being assertive.

When it comes to interacting with other people, there are four main styles of relating with them that we all adhere

I have learnt that most people have some value that they can add to the world. Unfortunately due to societal structures, lack of confidence, the fear that you may be wrong or someone will criticise you, often people don’t speak up and their ideas stay in their head.

If you want to grow an entrepreneurial business it is vital that you create an environment where your team feel comfortable to openly say anything they feel or any ideas they have. If you do this, you will get the true value out of everyone in the team and you never know they might give you the idea that can grow your company by 10 times.

I have always wanted this to be the case in my businesses and one of my expectations that we discuss regularly is that everyone will display candour, which simply means say what you really think in any situation to ensure we know where you stand. This worked well for some people, but as you become a better leader, it b

The concept of Emotional Intelligence exploded onto the scene in 1995 with the release of Daniel Goleman’s work “Emotional Intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ.” The discovery of EI served to be the straw that broke the back of the idea that IQ was the sole source of a person’s success, and provided the missing link that solved the question of why those with average IQs would more often than not outperform those with high level IQs.

Emotional Intelligence: The Other Kind of Smart

Emotional intelligence is much more difficult to quantify than IQ, being made up of intangible abilities within us all. However, it can be broken up into four core skills that fall under two competencies:

Personal Competence: Focus upon yourself and your ability to stay aware of your emotions and manage behaviour through two skills;

Self-Awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your emotions and maintain awareness of them, and Self-Management is your ability to use